LFCC Prepares for Soccer Season and Adds Basketball to Athletics Program

MIDDLETOWN and WARRENTON, Va. – Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC) is preparing to kick off another soccer season and is excited to announce the addition of men’s and women’s basketball to its athletics program. The Lord Fairfax Cannons athletic teams are gearing up for the 2009-10 season and are recruiting eligible athletes.

The soccer season runs from August through September, and the basketball season runs from October through March. The Lord Fairfax Cannons compete against a variety of community colleges and four-year institutions.

The coaches for the Lord Fairfax Cannons are Kathleen Carey, head coach for the women’s basketball and soccer teams, Chris Graham, head coach for the men’s basketball team, and John Sharples, head coach for the men’s soccer team.

Carey, a Stephens City resident, is a special education and history teacher at Sherando High School. Prior to moving to Virginia, Carey held various coaching positions at several high school in addition to coaching youth soccer. Carey continues to coach youth soccer, and last season, she served as the freshmen girls’ basketball coach at Sherando High School. Carey holds a bachelor’s degree in history education from Providence College, a master’s degree in education with a specialization in curriculum and instruction from the University of Phoenix and a postgraduate certificate in special education from Virginia Commonwealth University. She also holds a soccer coaching license from the United States Soccer Federation.

“I love creating opportunities for young people to find out about themselves — life lessons — and learn about sports and competition through participating in athletics,” Carey said.

Graham, a Winchester resident, is the manager of Enviro-Turf, a lawn and shrub fertilizing business, which is a subsidiary of Arcadian Property Management Inc., a landscape property management company that has been servicing the Northern Shenandoah Valley for more than 10 years. For the last eight years, Graham has coached the eighth grade boys’ basketball team at Daniel Morgan Middle School. He also serves as the assistant girls’ varsity basketball coach for the Clarke County Eagles and head coach of the Winchester Eagles, a team of 14-year-old boys, which is part of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). Most recently, the Winchester Eagles qualified for the AAU Nationals in Orlando, Fla., in August 2009. Graham attended Glenville State College on a full athletic basketball scholarship and majored in business administration.

“I enjoy teaching the game of basketball and developing relationships with the players. I have watched many of my young players grow in the sport through high school and have even helped some of them obtain scholarships to play at the collegiate level,” Graham said.

Sharples, a Winchester resident, is a physical education and health teacher with Loudoun County Public Schools and assistant boys’ soccer coach for the Judges at John Handley High School in Winchester. He has assisted the Judges in achieving consecutive Northwestern District championship titles and competing in regional and state title games. Sharples also has experience with collegiate soccer, serving as an assistant coach at Averett University and Ferrum College. In addition, he has coached various travel teams and camps throughout Virginia and North Carolina. He holds coaching certifications with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the United States Soccer Federation. Sharples holds a bachelor’s degree in sports management and a health and physical education NK-12 teacher endorsement from Averett University and a master’s degree in education with a concentration in community and college counseling from Longwood University.

“I enjoy all aspects of the game of soccer; however, the one thing I enjoy most about coaching at LFCC is putting together a group of individual players from different area high schools to play as a team and form friendships,” Sharples said.

For more information, interested individuals and/or students may contact Carey at 540-931-2546 or kmcarey@lfcc.edu, Graham at 540-974-3795 or cgraham@lfcc.edu or Sharples at 540-327-KICK or jsharples@lfcc.edu.

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Founded in 1970, Lord Fairfax Community College is a multi-campus public institution of higher education. With four locations — Middletown, Warrenton, Luray-Page County and most recently, Vint Hill— the College serves eight localities in the Shenandoah Valley and northern Piedmont regions. The localities are the counties of Clarke, Fauquier, Frederick, Page, Rappahannock, Shenandoah and Warren and the city of Winchester. LFCC offers more than 75 associate degree and certificate programs in a wide variety of disciplines, in addition to providing access to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs offered on site by a four-year institution. LFCC also serves the business community by offering workforce preparation programs for employees and employers. LFCC serves more than 9,000 unduplicated credit students and more than 11,000 individuals in professional development and business and industry courses annually.

Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC) is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Lord Fairfax Community College. Lord Fairfax Community College is an equal opportunity institution providing educational and employment opportunities, programs, services, and activities and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, disability, national origin, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or other non-merit factors. LFCC also prohibits sexual misconduct including sexual violence or harassment.